Collapsible portable granary or like container



4, 1964 T. s. PETERSON COLLAPSIBLE PORTABLE GRANARY 0R LIKE CONTAINER Filed June 1, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 72 01/45 6. l ir/5e90,!

BY r f W 21 IT/VZ-Z'J g- 4, 1954 T. s. PETERSON 3,143,271

COLLAPSIBLE PORTABLE GRANARY OR LIKE CONTAINER Filed June 1, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 j BY 0074/5535 United States Patent 3,143,271 COLLAPSIBLE PGRTABLE GRANARY 0R LIKE CONTAINER Thomas G. Peterson, 1614 SW. Evans, Des Moines, Iowa Filed June 1, 1962, Ser. No. 199,477 Claims. (83]. 229-45) This invention relates to a container and more particularly to a collapsible portable one capable of being used as a granary transportation container or like.

Large storage containers are universally used for the storing of grain and like. Such storage means is usually in the form of permanent grain elevator buildings costing great sums of money. Even individually used granaries are of permanent installation and may be of concrete or steel construction. Obviously such grain storage means has two objections. First is the cost, and secondly is the impossibility of movement from one location to another. Furthermore, most such granaries require considerable time and labor to erect.

Perhaps however, the greatest need for such containers is in the field of transportation and particularly for ships, barges and like.

Various types of grains such as rice, coffee beans, wheat, and soybeans are often transported by boat. As a matter of fact, there are many commercial products that must be shipped in bulk. The usual method is to use rigid containers for holding the bulk product. However, this is objectionable in that the empty containers must be returned by boat to point of origin. This means that the return voyage is substantially an empty non-profitable cargo.

Some effort has been made to overcome these problems as illustrated in my co-pending application for United States Letters Patent on a Collapsible Portable Granary or Like, filed September 20, 1961, and bearing Serial No. 139,510. While this disclosed structure is ideal for some purposes, it is not particularly adapted for transportation usage, nor for permitting certain expansion characteristics without tearing.

Therefore, one of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a collapsible portable container for use either as a transportation container, or as a container for local storage.

A further object of this invention is to provide a fold able paper-like large container that has limited expansion characteristics.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a granary or like that may be folded into a compact package that may easily be carried by one person.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a lightweight granary or like that may be erected for use, quickly and easily.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a collapsible building or container that is strong.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a lightweight collapsible granary or like that is capable of withstanding adverse weather conditions.

Still further objects of my invention are to provide a portable granary or like that is economical in manufac ture, durable in use, and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination, of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the top cap of my container with a section cut away to more fully illustrate its construction,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cylindrical wall portion of the device with sections cut away to more fully illustrate its construction,

FIG. 3 is a reduced perspective view of the wall portion being erected to receive material,

FIG. 4 is a reduced perspective View of the wall portion set up for receiving material,

FIG. 5 is a reduced perspective view of the wall portion being filled with the material to be held,

FIG. 6 is a reduced perspective view of the wall portion partially filled and with the supports removed,

FIG. 7 is a reduced perspective view of the wall portion substantially filled with the material to be held,

FIG. 8 is a reduced perspective view of my container, filled, and with the top cap installed, and

FIG. 9 is plan view of the various elements that make up a sheet used in producing my container.

The chief feature of my granary or like .and that which makes possible a lightweight foldable unit is the sheet material that I use to form the bottom and cylindrical wall. In appearance this sheet material is similar to a sheet of hardware paper. However, it is much different and stronger and consists of two waterproof sheets of paper or like 10 and 11, a tar or like emulsion 13 between the two sheets and strands 15 of fibre glass embedded in the emulsion. These elements adhesively secured to each other produce a lightweight flexible sheet as shown in FIG. 8 and which I designate generally by the numeral 16.

One feature of this invention is that the bottom of the container is not completely closed. The container is adapted to be installed over the ground, over a platform, or if used for transportation purposes, on a pallet.

There are now available circular metal pallets having lifting facilities, such as openings for lifting forks, chair: engaging means and the like. Such pallets (not shown) are excellent for supporting my open bottom container. These pallets are easily stored and take up very little space when returned to point of original use. Also, when my device becomes emptied, it can be collapsed or folded similar to that of a large paper container and its return occupies very little space.

Also, by the central area of the bottom being open, the container may slightly increase its diameter, and which, would not be satisfactory if the bottom area was completely closed.

To make the cylindrical wall and a partial bottom, 1 use four separate sheets 16, and I have used the numerals 17, 18, 19 and 20 to designate these 4 sheets respectively.

The widths of these four sheets may be substantially the same. Each sheet 17, 18, 19 and 20 is formed into a cylinder by securing its two edges together by any suitable glue or adhesive. A glued binding strip 21 may be used to give further strength as shown in FIG. 2. When partially assembled the tube sheet 17, will be the outer cylinder, the tube sheet 18 the next cylinder, the tube sheet 19 the third cylinder from the outside, and the tube sheet 20, the innermost cylinder. The second tube sheet 18 has its lower end area folded radially inwardly and this horizontal area designated by the numeral 22 extends under the bottom edges of the tube sheets 19 and 29. To create this horizontal ring portion 22 the sheet is lap-folded as shown in FIG. 2. By this arrangement of parts the central bottom area 25 of the container will be open, and the top edge of the tube sheet 18 will be substantial distance below the top edges of the tube sheets 17, 19, and 20.

The upper portions of the tube sheets 17, 19, and 20 that are above the tube sheet 18, is folded downwardly and inwardly. This construction strengthens the unit, and also provides a rounded upper edge for the container. If desired, the tube sheets may be glued together. To use my device the completed cylindrical wall is placed on a supporting surface, and braces 26 are placed to engage the supporting surface and extend upwardly unas shown in FIG. 3. These braces hold the cylinder open and upright. Next, the material 29 to be held is placed into the unit. The unit is filled to near the flap 27. At this time the braces 26 are removed asshown in FIG. 6, and the container completely filled as shown in FIG. 7. The unit will be stretched and filled out and the next step is to aflix the detachable cap lid. This cap lid, generally designated by the numeral ,30 has a top circular portion 31, and a downwardly extending skirt 32.

Glued on the inner side of the skirt 32 is a ring 33 U- shaped in cross-section, as shown in FIG. 1. This ring is placed downwardly to extend over and at each side of the upper edge area of the cylinder wall portion. The skirt portion 32 will extend downwardly a substantial distance around the outside of the cylinder wall, and the cap lid may be secured thereon by any suitable means such as a cable, rope, wire or like 35, as shown in FIG. 8. This will seal the device. If desired, the outer side of the cap lid, and the cylindrical wall, -may have their outer sides coated by any suitable protective such as metallic paint, wax, plastic, or like. The top lid member may be cut and formed from a sheet 16. The fibre glass strands may be crossing strands spaced apart and each may extend sinuously. By the strands being imbedded in the emulsion, and/ or extending in sinuous paths as shown in FIG. 9, the completed unit will have a certain amount of stretch to accommodate the material being held. For stability, I recommend that the diameter of the unit be considerable relative to its height, as shown in FIG. 8. If desired, and if a container of considerable capacity is required, at the stage shown in FIG. 6, the flap portion 27 may be turned upwardly to extend the height of the unit. This turning of the flap portion to extend upwardly is shown in FIG. 7. The material filling into the container will rest into the horizontal ring portion 22 and thereby anchor the device onto the supporting surface, pallet or like.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my collapsible portable granary or like container without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a foldable container, comprising,

a cylindrical unit of bendable sheet material, said cylindrical unit consisting of a plurality of bendable tubes, each of said tubes being co-extensive in length with the exception of one inner tube which has an end portion extending beyond the adjacent end of the other tubes,

der the turned in flap 27,

4, said end portion forming a radially inwardly extending ring portion on the inner bottom edge of said cylindrical unit, said ring portion consisting of a continuous series of lap folds along its entire circumference,

said inner tube having a length substantially equal to the length of said other tubes, said other tubes forming a top portion of said cylindrical unit and adapted to be bent along the top circumferential edge of said one tube.

2. The foldable container of claim 1 wherein the outer tube of said plurality of bendable tubes is of a laminated construction having two outer paper sheets and emulsion between the two sheets.

3. The foldable container of claim 1 wherein the outer tube of said plurality of bendable tubes is of a laminated construction having two outer paper sheets and emulsion between the two sheets and spaced strands of fibre glass between the two sheets.

4. The foldable container of claim 1 further comprising a cap lid of bendable sheet material detachably extending over said cylindrical unit.

5. In a foldable container, comprising,

a cylindrical unit of bendable sheet material, said cylindrical unit consisting of a plurality of laminated bendable tubes with each sheet that makes up a tube consisting of two outer sheets and emulsion and spaced strands of'fibre glass between the two sheets, each of said tubes being co-extensive in length with the exception of one inner tube which has an end portion extending beyond the adjacent end of the other tubes,

said end portion forming a radially inwardly extending ring portion on the inner bottom edge of said cylindrical unit, said ring portion consisting of a continuous series of lap folds along its entire circumference,

said inner tube having a length substantially equal to the length of said other tubes, said other tubes forming a top portion of said cylindrical unit and adapted to be bent along the top circumferential edge of said one tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,197,315 Wendler Sept. 5, 1916 1,678,958 Schleicher July 31, 1928 1,867,071 Collings July 12, 1932 1,870,215 Anderson Aug. 9, 1932 1,923,426 Eggerss Aug. 22, 1933 2,651,447 Seaborne Sept. 8, 1953 2,677,496 Maynes May 4, 1954 

1. IN A FOLDABLE CONTAINER, COMPRISING, A CYLINDRICAL UNIT OF BENDABLE SHEET MATERIAL, SAID CYLINDRICAL UNIT CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF BENDABLE TUBES, EACH OF SAID TUBES BEING CO-EXTENSIVE IN LENGTH WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE INNER TUBE WHICH HAS AN END PORTION EXTENDING BEYOND THE ADJACENT END OF THE OTHER TUBES, SAID END PORTION FORMING A RADIALLY INWARDLY EXTENDING RING PORTION ON THE INNER BOTTOM EDGE OF SAID CYLINDRICAL UNIT, SAID RING PORTION CONSISTING OF A CONTINUOUS SERIES OF LAP FOLDS ALONG ITS ENTIRE CIRCUMFERENCE, 